Often a point of discussion in the scene and out of curiosity and for a point of discussion here. I practice SSC with my wife but my slave and I are RAK. Example; My wife and I use a safe word and have tight limits. We really fall into the Jay Wiseman in this one. My slave has no safe word. We discuss areas that are bad and where I choose not to tread but if I wanted to go there, she would. Yes, there is a risk involved. Our relationship is intense, and we do scare off some SSC folks and yet make other breath hard and fast.
We do not use a safeword. We've been married for 20 years. I can read if it's getting too intense. If I'm punishing him, I will push him farther than he's normally be able to go. After all, it IS punishment. I would NEVER harm him though. Often, "punishment" is really just a reminder of who's in charge. I will use "maintenance" punishment from time to time, just to keep him in the right state of mind.
Hope it's okay to post this - it is copyrighted but link included. http://www.rcdc.org/articles/tamar-ssc.html The word "risk" is what needs to be considered (and there is a degree of risk involved) - risk vs. reward? But it's about taking care of all players involved and do not cross the line. Limits do need to be pushed at times - so please do not misconstrue. First Domme i attended was a switch and that, to me, raised my level of respect, that she knew both sides of the coin. Bottom line is to keep it real. And we all know what that means.
I have read the linked article before and agree but I tend to look a but deeper as many have taken SSC and made it too restrictive. Particularly some groups. Example, is electric play above the waist safe? It can be if you are aware of the risks, and understand what you are doing. What one might consider sane, "a flogging" someone else might consider insane. That is more of why we lean towards RAK. For us in the linked definition, we are SSC but to some, we are not.
This is an interesting one for me. I have a fairly high pain threshold from my days as a Rugby player, so I can take knocks and hits better than most. So, a lot of kink like whipping, wax play etc., I have little to no issue with, and when I'm 'playing' with my girlfriend/mistresss then she can push me further than she thinks possible before I use a safeword (although she often worries that she's going too far, and I have to keep reassuring her that it's fine etc.). In terms of some humiliation type things then that's where it's a more contentious issue. Again, I'm still quite open to a lot of things, and actually, a lot of the stuff that we won't/don't do are things that SHE has said she doesn't want to do (although I was fine with it. Stuff like Golden Showers etc.. However, there are a couple of things linked with chastity where it's strange. She would be happy to lock me up, yes, and I've mentioned what is commonly part of chastity (e.g. lock up, feminization and cuckolding). She likes the idea of feminization and is 'iffy' around the idea of cuckolding. Unsurprisingly, she is keener on cuckolding than I am, and I think that if we were to try chastity on a longer term basis than we have done in the past, it would be one of those things where we would have to sit down to discuss how things would go on before I was locked. And this is where the SSC comes in. For me, there's nothing particularly unsafe about cuckolding or especially insane (other than the woman you love sleeping with another man!), but because our relationship is 90% vanilla, if she was to cuckold me, it would be something I wouldn't be able to bear. I think that SSC has to meet all 3 criteria in that acronym before it can take place. So for me, chastity - all three criteria. Feminization - all three. Cuckolding - first 2, but not the third. I'm happy to fantasize about it (and I do), but if she actually did it, it would be the end of the relationship. As has been said, it's all about communication, discussing things with your partner and trying to please each other. At least, that's what I think of it and is my 2p's worth
My Owner and i practice RACK...Risk Aware Consensual Kink. A couple of years ago we discussed the possibility of revoking my safeword. I do still have it though, and am free to use it. For Mistress, she gets a bigger power trip knowing that i COULD safeword, but that i don't. She has pushed me out of my comfort zone more than a few times, and even crossed a couple of (former)hard limits. One example is watersports. She teased me one day at the mall by ordering me to go pee for her. I just laughed and said that was impossible, but I'd try, though she may want to use the restroom just in case it didn't work as she expected. She said it was absolutely possible, just that it would get an extra cycle through me. I snorted. She already had me crazy scent trained to her pussy (i would damn near cum just from smelling her, and if i was already close it stood a real danger of pushing me over the edge. Over the next few weeks she started to not wipe as much after peeing, and slowly mixed the scents. She had also bought a funnel gag (totally unrelated reason, and has to do with mushrooms and a threat about me ever making a disparaging remark about mushrooms). Then one night, teased out of my mind and drunk on her scent, i begged her (unprompted) to lock the funnel gag on me and allow me to consume her pee. She raised an eyebrow and asked me if i was sure, then told me i would have to convince her i really wanted it. Scratch one hard limit. One neither of us expected to do.